PCB mass transfer coefficients determined by application of a water surface sampler Original Research Article

A water surface sampler (WSS) was employed in combination with greased surface deposition plates (GSDPs) to measure the particulate dry deposition and gas exchange of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in Chicago, IL. Vapor phase PCB fluxes were calculated by subtracting the particulate fluxes obtained from GSDPs from total (particulate + gas) fluxes obtained from the WSS. Vapor phase PCB fluxes were divided by ambient air concentrations measured with a high volume sampler to calculate overall gas phase PCB mass transfer coefficients (KG). The calculated average PCB MTC was 0.54 ± 0.47 cm s−1. This experimentally determined average gas phase overall mass transfer coefficient, KG, agreed well with the ones reported from studies using similar techniques and agreed well with modeled values obtained using MTC correlations developed for the WSS.